Ruth Bell Graham

1920-2007

Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died yesterday at the age of 87. Ruth had been bedridden at home, suffering from degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck. Billy Graham said all that can be said of this remarkable woman:

“Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team. No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support. I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we’ve had in the mountains together. We’ve rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven.”

The daughter of missionary doctor L. Nelson Bell, she was born in 1920 in Qingjiang, China, where her father directed the Presbyterian hospital founded by the father of author Pearl Buck. She grew up in China and at age 13 went to boarding school for three years in Pyongyang, presently North Korea.

She met Billy Graham while they were students at Wheaton College, an evangelical liberal arts school near Chicago.

Ruth initially thought she was called to become a missionary but after struggling in prayer over her future, she married Billy in Montreat Aug. 13, 1943. The couple eventually moved to Montreat, in the mountains of western North Carolina, to be near her parents while Billy spent many days on the road. She raised ftheir ive children.